Semi-precious materials such as this often associated with a particular geographical region and highly valued because of their rarity. Many of the religious objects were portable, as were the small portraits. They were often made near to the source of the material and then taken elsewhere. This was made in Trapani, a town in Sicily that became the most important centre of coral carving in Europe. The Assumption of the Virgin, in which the Virgin ascended bodily and spiritually to heaven after her death, was a popular subject in Mediterranean countries at this period.